4th Avenue Jones (originally 4th Avenue Jones' and sometimes credited as 4th Ave. Jones') was an American
alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...
band based in Los Angeles, California. The band was conceived by Ahmad Ali Lewis, popularly known as
Ahmad
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
. The band's name comes from the popular idiom "
Keeping up with the Joneses
Keeping is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Charles Keeping (1924–1988), British illustrator, children's book author and lithographer
* Damien Keeping (born 1982), Australian rules football coach
* Frederick Keeping (1867– ...
" and the street in
South Central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
where they began their rehearsals.
Musical career
The Interscope years
After the success of his 1994 platinum single "Back in the Day" as an 18-year-old, Ahmad became frustrated by the corporate politics choking the industry and the "plastic junk" being forced on the masses, and decided to abandon his solo career and form his own label, Lookalive Records. Lookalive was formed to bring together a dream team of gifted musicians who were committed to the art of music.
The vision for the band was conceived in 1997 when Ahmad Jones commenced rehearsals at a house located on 4th Avenue and Jefferson in South Central Los Angeles. In 2000 the band was formed, and the group independently pressed and distributed their first full album ''No Plan B''. Their persistence paid off as their fan base in the Los Angeles area began to grow. Local weekly gigs soon followed, spreading word of the Jones' classic level of showmanship like wildfire throughout the West Coast music scene.
Interscope Records caught wind of the 4th Avenue Jones' buzz, and quickly offered the band a deal. After enthusiastically completing the 2002 Interscope project, ''No Plan B, Pt. II'', the band continued to electrify audiences, sharing the stage with such notables as
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...
,
Macy Gray
Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday.
Gray ha ...
,
The Roots
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...
,
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
,
The Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...
,
Musiq
Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and gospel influences fused w ...
, and others. Sadly, they were kept in touring limbo by the label and the album was never released.
Frustrated, the Jones' eventually earned their release from the label altogether. Fortunately, by the time they returned to independent status, releasing another underground album, ''Respect'', the group had already stamped an influential mark, and their fans stuck with them.
After Interscope
Inspired with a new vision of things to come, some changes in the band were made. Ahmad enlisted a roster of talent that would position the group for refinement and growth: his wife, Tena Jones on vocals, Tim Stewart aka "Timmy Shakes" on lead guitar, Gailybird on violin, "Phat" Albert Parker on bass, and Derrick "Dee" Calloway on drums.
Their eclectic use of rock-influenced sounds atypical for hip-hop music, especially guitars, was most evident on their first album after leaving Interscope, 2003's compilation ''Gumbo'' which introduced the public to their new members, with several band members performing solo tracks on the album.
In 2004, 4th Avenue Jones released their fourth independent album ''HipRockSoul'', and the next year, they released their first
Gotee Records
Gotee Records is a record label founded by Christian hip hop performer Toby McKeehan (known professionally as ''TobyMac''), Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood. The label began as a production company. At the time of the label's founding, McKeehan wa ...
-distributed album, titled ''Stereo: The Evolution of HipRockSoul'' containing re-mastered and re-mixed tracks from the ''HipRockSoul'' album as well as several new songs. After a lot of underground success, this album was the group's mainstream breakout album earning them a
Dove Award
A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...
nomination as well as awards from several Christian and mainstream hip-hop websites.
Discography
Albums
Singles
4th Avenue Jones has also recorded a cover of "
Jesus Freak
''Jesus freak'' is a term arising from the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture and is frequently used as a pejorative for those involved in the Jesus movement. As Tom Wolfe illustrates in ''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'', the term "fre ...
" by Christian rock/pop group
dc Talk
DC Talk (stylized as dc Talk) is a Christian hip hop, Christian rap and Christian rock, rock trio. The group was formed at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by tobyMac, Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max, Kevin Max Smith ...
, which appears on the compilation album ''
Freaked! A Gotee Tribute to dc Talk's "Jesus Freak"''.
References
{{Authority control
American hip hop groups
Gotee Records artists
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Christian hip hop groups
Rap rock groups
Underground hip hop groups